Ånon Egeland

Mats Edén

Mikael Marin

Egeland/Edén/Marin Vol. 1

Halling etter Olaf Frøysaa

Den nakne jenta

Springar

Fiskaren

Springdans (Olaf Frøysaa, 1918 XII)

Springar (G. O. Nordbø 86)

Springar (G. O. Nordbø 115)

Vals etter Tor Tut

Trippar

Springdans (Olaf Frøysaa, 1919 XI)

Polska

Evertsberg gamla brudmarsch

Ola Persen

Fipp i vêret

This album is a musical self-portrait, a kind of snapshot of me in MMXXIV. Or 2024 if you prefer. The music on it has been with me for half a century. Some tunes are part of my active repertoire, while others have lived a kind of shadow life: half-learned tunes that never fully took shape. Until now.
Working on these fiddle tunes has been like travelling back in time to those life-changing encounters with the older players who freely and generously shared their music with me. If only they had known how much they would mean to the young man who came knocking on their doors! Not only did they feed my enthusiasm for a beloved pastime – they even influenced my choice of career. I can’t thank them enough! 
Much of music on this album is performed on the instrument that has been with me for longest, all the way back to the age of nine or ten: the Jew’s harp. The “classic” Jew’s harp repertoire passed down by style icons like Mikkel A. Kaavenes (1872 – 1939), Aani Rysstad (1894 – 1965) and Andres K. Rysstad (1893–1984) is so rich and open to improvisation that I could easily have restricted myself to these tunes alone for the rest of my life and never grown tired of them. At the same time, though, I see the value of contributing new material. So you’ll find a handful of traditional tunes that I’ve transferred from fiddle, langeleik (fretted dulcimer) and song – a process that demands insight into both the limitations and possibilities of the Jew’s harp.  At the same time, the fiddle tunes, which involve a far larger compass than the Jew’s harp can offer, are often cooked down to a kind of essence of important motifs and phrases. I hope my reworkings do the fiddle tunes justice.

Ånon MMXXIV

I think Ånon Egeland is one of the most important contemporary fiddlers in the Scandinavian traditions, with a growing and dedicated audience around the world. Like no one else, his repertoire and playing style show us how tunes and techniques from masters of the previous generations can be the basis for contemporary musical expressions. It is more than just "inspired by" tradition, and more than just "playing like the old masters"; Ånon creates a genuinely personal musical world with great emotional and communicative power.

Also in Sweden, Ånon has like no other Norwegian fiddler, a large following. On any session with Swedish musicians, you are likely to hear one or several tunes from Ånon's albums.

It is perhaps hazardous to claim that Ånon's generation is the last to learn fiddling "the old way", but there have certainly been some important changes - culturally, technological and economical - that neccessarily influence the way music is learned, and, not least, the perception of what music is about. Without the immediate availability to a vast body of recorded material, nor relevant full-time education for traditional musicians, Ånon's education as a musician depended to a large extent on tracing fiddlers with interesting repertoar, and get tunes directly from their fiddles. Also important were all the digging in not-so-easily accessible archives and collections for recordings and old hand-written sources of tunes.
In the process, he got a broad view of playing techniques, and a large repertoire of more or (most often) less well-known tunes.
His three last albums (Sorpesoll, Egeland/Edén/Marin, Farvel, farvel) have all gotten nominations to important prizes. His playing is firmly rooted in the traditions of Southern Norway, and, at the same time, is, highly personal and contemporary in style. - Tellef Kvifte

Ånon II

When Ånon and Mikael tune their Hardanger fiddle and electric viola down an octave, the stage is set for the most extraordinary atmosphere, sustained by Ånon’s colourful, sensitive intonation and the no less sensitive and colourful landscapes that Mikael provides – in which the melodies live and breathe.
The expression is dark, profoundly personal and original, and it is tempting to declare Ånon and Mikael founders of a new tradition: Trad noir. The musical raw material is drawn in part from living tradition and in part from old tune books. All the melodies are associated with lyrics dealing in strong feelings such as grief, godly reverence and (unhappy) love. It is easy to overplay things in such a landscape, steeped in sometimes inconceivably hopeless emotions. Ånon and Mikael content themselves with giving us a convincing insight into this universe, inspiring compassion rather than despair – and the strange realisation that such emotions can also result in expressive beauty.

Farvel, Farvel

Halling Etter Olaf Frøysaa

"Egeland spiller Fjeldstad" is Ånon Egeland’s homage to one of his most important teachers, Sigurd Fjeldstad (1903-1984). In this recording, Ånon plays waltzes and airs, reinlenders and reels just the way Sigurd used to: with solo fiddle or simple chord zither accompaniment. In phrasing and intonation, Ånon’s style is very close to that of his teacher, although the ornamentation is unmistakably ”Egelandian”. This gives the production a highly personal touch – a distillation of countless cups of coffee, good stories and, last but not least, masses of wonderful, unique tunes. 
Ånon says: 
"It is 2 January 1977 and I am finally making good on plans to visit the fiddle-player Sigurd Fjeldstad. He lives in a remote spot, so I’ve brought a local with me – my good friend, Jarle Hagane. We knock on the door and a slight man in his mid-70s opens up. This is the man we’ve come to meet. He’s probably a bit surprised to find two young strangers on his doorstep and asks hesitantly: “What can I do for you today?” When we answer that we’d hoped for a bit of music, he lights up and in no time we’re installed in the sitting room. It isn’t long before the fiddle comes out. 
The music I heard then was a revelation: one unknown pearl after another, all played with authority in a thoroughly consistent style unlike anything I’d ever heard before. And when his wife Ella took out her chord zither, I had yet another landmark experience: traditional-style ensemble playing – a rare treat even in those days. A harmonious elderly couple, both feet firmly planted in this musical tradition, who radiated the joy of making music together. 
In hindsight, I see that my experiences at Fjellstad gave me a broader perspective on traditional musical that was extremely important as I gradually staked out my own path as both performer and teacher. 
This album is recorded in gratitude for the warmth I met; for the cups of coffee, sandwiches, cakes and – not least – the unique musical legacy I inherited"

Egeland/Edén/Marin Vol. 1

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